Judge approves evidence for stalking case

Defense motions were denied Wednesday to dismiss charges or limit prosecution evidence against a Clinton man accused of stalking a neighbor’s 14-year-old girl over the past year.

Hundreds of messages posted on YouTube and teddy bear displays at his home are evidence that 45-year-old Kent Ellsworth Losee was attempting to communicate with the girl despite a personal protection order, said Lenawee County Circuit Judge Margaret M.S. Noe.

Losee was arrested in August after a Michigan State Police investigation of his behavior toward the teenage girl who he declared he was in love with last fall.

Another hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11 on a defense motion to throw out evidence police obtained under search warrants executed at his home. The search warrant challenge covers both the aggravated stalking case and child pornography possession charges. Police reported finding images of child pornography as well as search queries for the material in two of Losee’s computers.

It was the police, not Losee, who delivered messages to the girl that the prosecution claims are violations of the personal protection order, argued defense attorney Laurence Margolis of Ann Arbor at Wednesday’s hearing.

There were no harassing telephone calls or text messages that are commonly involved in stalking cases, Margolis told the court. There is no evidence of unconsented contact with the girl by his client, he said.

Losee did post hundreds of messages on the YouTube Internet site that were intended for the girl, he said, but there is no evidence she was aware of them until state police showed them to her.

“The troopers are the ones who showed these postings to the minor,” he said. “The police are the ones to procure and cause the harm in this case.”

“Was there anything to prevent her from seeing them?” asked Noe.

Margolis agreed the victim could have found them if she had searched on the Internet.

The YouTube postings are not the only acts of stalking in this case, said Angela Borders, assistant Lenawee County prosecutor.

Two 42-inch teddy bears Losee carved from logs with a chain saw were used as a symbol for him being with the girl, she said. The carved bears were set on his porch and illuminated to attract her attention, Borders said.

“And she understood that to be a communication,” she said.

Losee also placed inflatable teddy bears near the property line between their homes, she said, and would play loud music intended for the girl.

Margolis argued the personal protection order does not prohibit Losee from doing things on his own property as the prosecution alleges.

“There’s not a case in Michigan that supports their broad interpretation,” he told the court.

The YouTube messages addressed to “My Dearest, Cute Teddy Bear” and similar names are all “directed and addressed to the victim,” Noe said in ruling to deny the motion to dismiss charges.

Margolis next asked Noe to limit evidence that can be used at trial.

“We’re trying to avoid a trial by ambush here,” Margolis said.

Evidence he asked the court to ban included sexual items found in Losee’s home, the YouTube messages, the carved bears and a video Losee took of the girl and her family at a school football game last fall. Testimony about Losee sitting in his garage and playing music should not be allowed, he said, asking, “Is that stalking?”

The YouTube postings are a “core element of the case,” Borders said. “This is why we charged it, your honor.”

“I do not find any evidence of a trial by ambush here,” Noe said in denying Margolis’ motion to limit evidence. She ordered the prosecution to double check to ensure all evidence available in the case has been shared with the defense.

No trial date has been scheduled. Losee remains in jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond set Nov. 6 in the child pornography case. He had been free on a $50,000 bond in the stalking case before his Oct. 24 arrest on child pornography possession charges.